TimeBert

TimeBert is an interactive, emotionally-salient timer to make the process of using a timer for a task more pleasant.

Role: Product Designer

TimeBert is an interactive, emotionally-salient timer to make the process of using a timer for a task more pleasant. This task includes the processes of setting a timer, showing the decrease in time remaining, and having the timer go off.

Problem:

The experience of a timer going off is often unpleasant and surprising.

Process:

I started out by sketching and storyboarding several iterations of the timer, and identifying the problem space. I, along with two team members, created a cardboard prototype that we then iterated on after user testing. For our final iteration, we made sure to think extensively about the sight, sound, and feel of a timer.

The combination of the light ring that moves as the time is set using the dial and as TimeBert counts down, the notification sounds, as well as the color and visual appearance of the overall box all act as signifiers that create a unified experience of showing the user the time remaining on TimeBert in a satisfying way.

The routines we are exploiting are existing routines of using a timer- turning a knob to both set it and add more time to it, expecting a sound to indicate time’s up, and looking at the timer to determine how much time is left. Currently, it is impossible to tell how much time is left on a kitchen timer without being really close to the timer. With TimeBert, you can approximate how much time is left from across an entire room because the entire box glows with colors that fade as time left decreases.